Out With The Old

Recycle Your Media Helps SMEs Get Rid Of Their Outdated Storage Media

Upgrading to the latest and greatest storage technology can be a boon to your data center. But what should you do with your storage media now that you’ve acquired the most technologically advanced storage solution?

Although it’s tempting to quickly dispose of your old media, Recycle Your Media (888/757-8273; www.recycleyourmedia.com), a storage media recycling firm that buys and sells tape media worldwide, says it is important to avoid the temptation and consider your social and environmental responsibilities. Brian Musil, senior storage acquisitions manager at Newport Beach, Calif., -based Recycle Your Media, says this is because companies need to be following policies that recognize the holistic nature of economic, social, and environmental issues that all companies are facing.

Economically & Ecologically Responsible Musil has specialized in secure data eradication and certifying tape media for reuse for more than seven years and recognizes the value in offering an economical solution, while providing an ecological alternative to shredding your tape media.

Recycle Your Media’s service is a solution that is both economical and ecological for SMEs. Musil says the service the company provides is receiving a great deal of interest from IT and data center managers. Essentially, Recycle Your Media purchases your excess and end-of-life used data tape cartridges and securely eradicates the data for you. Musil notes, “Once the data has been completely eradicated, each tape is put through a rigorous visual and physical 12-point inspection. Tape media that pass the 12-point certification process are then repackaged and sold as an eco-friendly alternative to buying new tape media.”

According to Musil, the manufacturers of tape media state that each tape is engineered to work for up to 1 million passes. However, every data tape that passes Recycle Your Media’s certification process has not been used even a fraction of its projected lifetime. “With the growing amount of data [needing] to be stored,” Musil says, “certified-for-reuse tape media is necessary to help reduce e-waste and, at the same time, [to] save money.”

Musil says all IT professionals, including IT and data center managers, need to follow the forward-thinking data tape recycling culture. He comments, “As times change economically, it is good to know that you can recoup initial IT expenses and offset costs by purchasing certified-for-reuse tape media while [also] being a contributor of maintaining the health of the environment. Companies have a corporate responsibility to the environment, and this is a great opportunity for them to do their part.”

Musil says Recycle Your Media is currently working on spreading awareness of its services and aiming to overcome any security concerns that companies might have at this time. Musil comments, “It is known that other companies have lost data or simply resell the tape media to a third party without properly eradicating the data, and that has raised an obvious concern for the security of others. At Recycle Your Media, we are planning projects with corporations to implement recycling procedures as their standard operations, instead of shredding when their tape media come to its end-of-life.” Musil says Recycle Your Media has always had an interest in educating companies of the proper processes to be aware of in data tape acquisition and eradication.

Unique In Its Field

One of the things that makes Recycle Your Media stand out in a crowd is that the company competes mainly with companies that shred tape media. Musil says other companies provide a service that is not only costly, but is also detrimental to the environment because the shredded remains end up in landfills. He elaborates, “We differ in that we pay companies for their excess and used tape cartridges and securely eradicate all confidential information. We will also arrange and pay all freight costs for you.”

Musil adds that Recycle Your Media also differs from its competitors by the overall service and step-by-step follow-through, from the in-house audit to the certificate of data destruction after all data has been eradicated. “We stress that security is No. 1, and without taking the correct measures to protect customer data, they simply would not exist,” Musil says.

In Musil’s opinion, the company’s certified-for-reuse tape media sets the standard so high that about 20% of the used media it brings in does not pass its 12-point inspection. The company brings in used media from corporations that have been handled and stored correctly in a data center environment. After the used media arrives at the facility, the product is completely eradicated of all data. After that, Musil says every tape is thoroughly inspected to see if it has been stored and handled correctly during transit. Recycle Your Media then takes things a step further with a cleaning process in which each tape is cleaned with chemicals.

According to Musil, another factor that makes his company different is its reputation and quality of product and service. “What’s more,” he notes, “Recycle Your Media offers an eco-friendly product, as well as an economically sound service and secure data eradication. We offer a certified-for-reuse product that is completely eradicated of all data and then goes through a rigorous visual and physical inspection process that is above and beyond what any other company has set as their standard.”

Musil also points out the fact that the company offers a “no questions asked,” 90-day money-back guarantee, as well as a lifetime warranty on all certified-for-reuse tape media. He says free samples are also provided upon request. Recycle Your Media also provides secure locked, armed, and alarmed transport to its facility. Musil says the company welcomes interested data center professionals to take a tour of the facility and will negotiate legal proposals to fit any company’s needs and concerns.

Musil concludes, “With substantial growth in 2008 (a 50% increase since 2007), it is a clear indication that there is an increased awareness of the environmental climate and the struggling economy.”